Hopefully you’ve read the title to this article and have said out loud “Ali stewart is a total idiot!”
However, I constantly get asked the same question by people or clients etc. which is, how do I lose fat? Or, what do you do to get into shape? I believe that most normal people who are looking to change their body composition believe that there is a secret method that they must do that just works. The truth is, there are a multitude of different approaches to dropping fat or gaining muscle. The key factor is you. Where you are right now with regards your shape, body fat percentage, lean muscle mass, fitness level, lifestyle, diet…. This list goes on.
It is for all the reasons that I’ve listed above why a ‘One size fits all’ approach simply will not work. Personally, I can get lean whilst still eating over 450g of carbs daily. Some people will gain fat on three licks of a dried prune!
There are many fitness professionals that will simply enforce and preach what they do and train you with their personal ethos and encourage you to mimic exactly what they do. Understandably, if it works for them, why wouldn’t it work for you? For the clear majority of people this won’t work. Scientific studies have shown that peoples individual ability to burn fat ranges from 25% for their maximal exercise effort up to 77% of your maximal exercise effort. This is a huge range so clearly you can’t train/feed both these individuals in the same way. As an individual you need to teach your body to burn fat. Your starting point has a huge impact on how you go about this.
Here are a few guidelines to improve your ability to burn fat for average or overweight people: –
If you have a high fat mass and low lean mass, then chances are your body is just not good at burning fat yet. Therefore, the only thing to improve this is to exercise. If you’re extremely overweight or unfit, start with low/med steady state exercise i.e. walking uphill or weight training until your fitness improves.Make your workouts progressive. Keep pushing your limits as fitness improves i.e. increase speeds, duration and the level of resistance.To train your body to use fat better as fuel you should try to train some of the time in a low carbohydrate fed state i.e. first thing in the morning before breakfast.Weight training and eating protein frequently will maintain/increase muscle mass. This increases your fat burning potential.The average person who trains three times per week, 30-60 mins, should eat three larger meals and two smaller meals, with most their carbs post workout. Meals before should be primarily meats, veg, fruits and fats.Keep hydrated.Chances are you’re more sedentary than you think, therefore, you need to control the large carb hits as this will encourage your body to burn fats, but don’t cut them completely!Consuming sports drinks during your workout will switch off fat burning, SO DON’T.Most importantly, you must create an energy deficit to burn fat. Fuel your body, exercise regularly and it will burn fat. Put more in than you need or don’t move enough and you will not burn fat. Simple.
This is not a ‘one size fits all’ diet and training plan. It is not meant for athletes, bodybuilders or highly trained individuals as your biochemistry is very different. This is aimed at normal people who don’t get why they can’t drop fat. The science is there. There is no mystery it’s just consistency and adherence. It may be a slow start while your body learns to burn fat and control insulin sensitivity.
Stick to my guidelines and you will succeed. As you progress, your diet and training should progress with it.
Here is a one day example menu I’d suggest for an office based 70kg person to consume daily if they trained 3 times a week and were looking to drop fat.
1 Breakfast: scrambled Egg and Veggies with whole-grain English muffin
Eggs, 3 large
Bell peppers, diced, 1/4 cup
Red onion, diced, 1/4 cup
Low-fat cheddar cheese, shredded, 1/4 cup
1 Whole-grain English muffin
Calories: 429
Fat: 21 g
Carbs: 29 g
Protein: 31 g
Lunch: Apple-Stuffed Chicken
Gala apples, cored and diced, 2 medium
Garlic, 2 cloves
Red onion, chopped, 1/2 medium
Salt, Black pepper, to taste
Sage, fresh and chopped, 1 tbsp
Chicken breast, 120g.
Bread crumbs, 2 tbsp
cheddar cheese, grated, 25g
Coconut oil, 1/2 tbsp
Calories: 408
Fat: 16 g
Carbs: 28 g
Protein: 38 g
3 Pre-Workout Meal
1 scoop whey protein
Apple, 1 medium
Almonds, 15g.
Calories: 289
Fat: 9 g
Carbs: 32 g
Protein: 20 g
Post-Workout Meal: Cajun fish With Sweet Potato and Broccoli
Cajun spice
White fish (cod, haddock, pollock), 100g.
Baked sweet potato, 1 medium
Steamed broccoli, 1 cup
Calories: 359
Fat: 3 g
Carbs: 53 g
Protein: 30 g
Bedtime Snack
Plain low-fat Greek yogurt, 1 cup
Fresh berries, 1/2 cup
Dark cocoa powder, 1 tbsp
Calories: 233
Fat: 1 g
Carbohydrates: 31 g
Protein: 25 g
Nutrition Total
Calories: 1,718
Fat: 50 g
Carbs: 173 g
Protein: 144 g
This is not the ‘perfect diet’ it is just an example of how you could start to structure your food intake to help promote fat loss and metabolic adaptations which will help you get leaner and fitter. If you are looking for individual advice on training and nutrition plans then you can find me at Fat Al’s Gym.
Keep on lifitn’
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